>> good morning, i'm >> good morning, i'm congressman ron barber from southern arizona. currently completing the term that was served by congresswoman gabrielle giffords. i come to this issue from a number of perspectives. on january 8, 2011, i was standing beside congresswoman as the district director when a gunman charged forward and opened up. i saw him shoot the congresswoman. i decided that day, the judge died and my colleague died. in 45 seconds, 30 bullets were discharged from one clip. 45 seconds.

19 people were down. six of them died. that was an extended clip. the gunman had another one in his pocket and two shorter ones in his pocket and had it not been for the quick action, the courageous action of people there, he would have loaded and 30 more bullets would have been discharged. i come to this issue as a parent and a grandparent. i was on my way to the rural part of my district on friday when i heard the news about the shootings in connecticut. first i heard three had died. that was bad enough, and then i heard 20 children had died. i was devastated. i have two grandchildren the

same age as the children who were shot and killed in newtown, connecticut. on sunday, when i opened the newspaper to read about the shootings, i saw a photograph of one of the children who was killed. her name was emily. a little blonde-haired girl with a beautiful smile. she looked at me from the paper, i saw my granddaughter's elsa and tilly looking back at me. so i come to this issue as a grandparent whose children but for fate could have been in the same situation as the children in newtown. and come to this as a member of congress. you know the people back home in just about every district keep asking us why it is that we can't get anything done here. well, i'm a newcomer. i've only been here about five months, and i know what is going on in terms of the

political gamesmanship. this is an issue on which political games have to stop. we should have members of the republican caucus standing with us today and i hope in time we will. this has to be a bipartisan issue in the end. and so, as i have looked at what happened over the last two years, over 20 mass shootings and vitually every one of them has two things in common. the killer, the shooter used high capacity magazines and/or assault weapons to kill he is victims. and the second is almost every one of those individuals was either later or previously diagnosed with a serious mental

illness that had been untreated. now i will quickly note that 95% of people with mental illness never commit a violent act. in fact, they are more likely to be victims themselves. but for that small number who might be prone to violence, we have to do something to increase awareness and treatment. i've been working on that since the shooting in tucson. i think i know a little bit about what it is going to take to get our public aware and to get treatment to people. we have to go down that path as well. now i come to the issue of the weapons that are used. we have to -- we must take action. to make assault and extended clips, assault magazines, if you will, we have to take them away from anyone who would commit this kind of a crime. we cannot go on likely believing that we can solve this problem in other ways.

we have to look at the weaponry used and we have to look at the people who use it and we have to do something about both. my constituents have been saying to me since friday, can you guys get anything done? let me close with this story about the man i talked to in wilcox, arizona. a farming community in the most rural area of my district. we were in a meeting of another matter and he followed me out. he is an 80-year-old farmer of chilean cotton. he said ron, i've had a rifle and a gun since i was a boy. i'm a lifelong member of the n.r.a. i just came back from a hunting trip. but ron, he said, you go back to washington and you get your

colleagues to do something about the assault weapons and the extended clips and that is what i'm here to do along with my colleagues and we look forward to reaching a cross the aisle and having a similar dwarfing of republican members of -- gathering of republican members of congress to take care of this problem once and for all. >> i want to thank you for your outstanding leadership on this matter. i'm a discharged veteran who earned an expert marksmanship medal while i was in the service. i'm also the parent of a son murdered on the south side of the city of chicago. and i am a pastor of my church. i am here to support hr 308. the large capacity ammunition device act which i have been a

co-sponsor of since march of last year. hearing reports that there are 264,000 -- rifles manufactured each year in the u.s. and of those a 5,443 are exported overseas and 248,000 are used right here in the u.s. a bitter irony that we are confronted with at sandy hook is that the firearm industry's association their headquarters are located just across the

highway from the sandy hook elementary school and while focusing on large capacity weapons is important, i also have a bill, hr 66 a. legislation aimed at establishing a nationwide system for prohibiting unlicensed gun ownership and granting the u.s. attorney general broader authority on the program. as sad as the sandy hook incident is for all of us, we must be cognizant of the fact that gun violence has been terrorizing neighborhoods in chicago, detroit, houston, washington washington, d.c. for over decades now. one of my local newspapers, the

"chicago tribune," reports that at the end of march, murders in my city had spiked almost 60%. and as of june, homicides in chicago were up almost 20% over last year. 488 murders to date. ranging from 18 months to 19 years. these are americans also shot down like dogs in the street. as i recall being in the hospital room when my son was pronounced dead, there was a primal scream that came from his sister, his mother.

it wasn't a scream of a black woman. it wasn't a scream of a white mother. it wasn't a scream of a latina mother mother or a scream of an asian mother. it was a scream, a primal scream of a mother. a scream that is rarely duplicated anywhere. it is a horrible scream and i can't get that scream out of my consciousness. so i applaud speaker pelosi, leader pelosi, soon to be

speaker pelosi and i applaud the democrats who are standing here. we must stop future sandy hooks right now. we cannot allow the schools of america to become killing fields. we must act now. i applaud all of those who are involved. >> do you want to speak very briefly? >> we call our caucus america's caucus. because it is diversified and it's unified. we make our appeal today to all americans. and command our leader,

caroline, diana, the eloquence of the people who have spoken, my colleague from connecticut said it extraordinarily well. politics be damned here. there is a responsibility that we have as legislators that are unique. what took place in sandy hook and newtown, a quintessential new england community goes beyond horror. the weapon of choice that was used, an assault called a bush master, more than 3 million americans have them. 3 million americans have them.

we make appeal to americans, to mothers, to fathers. we make an appeal to members of the press, who are the ones that can best articulate and ask the questions why? because we know this. as sure as we're all standing here, and have acknowledged that we stood here too many times, lowered the flags, had the moments of silence on the floor, came down to do a special order, only to see this fade into the background. think these children. aether you're a parent or grandparent. to do nothing -- to do nothing is to be complicit. to be complicit.

we have a special responsibility to act and act now. but every american, and especially our colleagues in the fourth estate also carry that special responsibility to demand of us to act. thank you. >> thank you. i thank all of my colleagues, especially my friend from new york, caroline mccarthy, who has poured her heart and soul working every day on this issue and to our leader nancy pelosi and all of my colleagues. president obama and the

american people are demanding change and we can bring that change by passing this friday a ban on the massacre assault magazines. we can pass it. believe me, if guns made anyone safer, we would be the safest nation on earth. we have more guns per capita than any country on earth. and after the unfathomable tragedy, our country is united and determined in a demand for change. without change in our gun policy, we cannot expect the outcome to be any different from what we are already experiencing and we have already had too many mass murders and the cost is unbearable. these were elementary schoolchildren. and their teachers.

but there have been movie goers. americans going to town hall meetings. there are some who say any gun restriction is an imposition on their liberty. but they must understand that the level of gun violence in america today is an imposition on the liberty of all americans. millions of people. today we call on speaker boehner to work together with us to make america safer by passing a common sense ban on massive massacre sized magazines. thes get the weapons off streets of america. they are not necessary for defense or hunting or sports

shooting but they are absolutely deadly when used in a rampage like we saw in connecticut. the bill we propose would limit the size of magazines to 10 rounds. this will not stop all the killings but it can limit the damage by giving targeted people a chance to escape, a chance to survive. the american people are very clear in their message to congress today. ignore the will of the american people at your peril. they want change. they want it now. we can bring change by passing this bill on friday. >> i thank congresswoman degette for bringing us altogether this morning and for her ongoing leadership on this issue. as you can see, we have a great deal of sad experience. mr. barber was wounded himself the day he saw his colleague killed and our colleague, congresswoman gifford so severely wounded. we have our colleagues from connecticut, our colleague congresswoman mccarthy.

a champion on this issue. our colleague from rhode island who can speak with some authority on this issue as well. and bobby rush, we'll never forget your own personal experience as well. what you see before you are sponsors, co-sponsors of the bill which are reaching nearly 150 co-sponsorships. so again, someone asked why are republicans not here? they are not co-responses of the legislation. let me just say this about them and us. there is no division between us. that is to say if anyone of us could have reached out to that shooter and pulled away the round, the assault magazine that he had, high performance, whatever they called them, clips, we would have done so. we would -- all of us would have risked our lives, democrats and republicans alike, probably everyone if this room would have pulled that out of their hand. mr. barber said because of some

very brave people and i have met them in arizona, of taking that second clip away much more damage would have been done that day. much more unspeakable tragedy as it was. it might have been worse. why wouldn't we officially take that magazine out of the hands of a shooter? that's exactly what this legislation would do. that's exactly what this legislation would do. we would risk our lives to pull it out of the hands of a shooter. let's take a political risk and take it entirely out of the hands. as mr. barber has said and others. we understand the issues about

mental health and violence in our society, but to make sure that the people with impaired judgment do not have access to these high capacity clips. we have to make sure that no one has access to these high capacity clips. there are some questions you may have on this subject. can you talk about how that was a pivotal moment and how that started to change and why the assault weapon ban was allowed to expire? >> i will but i want to invite any of my colleagues and congresswoman mccarthy wasn't here then but she knows about the impact of it. i thank you for asking that question because this week would have been the 90th birthday of jack brooks who was the chairman of the judiciary committee at that time. chair of the judiciary committee. i met with him in october.

i was campaigning in beaumont, texas. we were reminiscing about this very action taken by congress. it was very hard, as you indicated, the bradys were here. jim brady. everybody was activated on the subject. chuck schumer was the lead author in the house that time. we didn't succeed in the first vote as you mentioned. but then we did and many members of our caucus lost their election because of that. they live in areas which just -- they understood when they took that vote that it was over. including jack brooks. king in his district, but as chairman of the committee, he

saw the need to bring that bill to the floor and he lost his election, as strong as he was in this that district. after the election, members came and he said i would do it again. i would do it again. how unimportant is my political life compared to saving the lives of -- and for 10 years, there was no -- there was a ban on assault weapons. and for 10 years, you didn't see this regular demonstration of violence in this high capacity way. when we were no longer in a position to renew it, that became clear, we started to see the violence escalate in the past decade because you know it expired in 2004. i just would like to say if you would like to say something about how you saw things in the aftermath, because i think they are asking about then and now and the change. >> congress has not acted or been able to act post 1984. >> listen.

i was not in congress but i was certainly lobbying my senators and certainly my members of the congress. i went everywhere. and i will say to you that when they went to go to repeal or try to repeal the assault weapons ban, which oddly, they decided to do it on december 7, which was the day of the massacre on long island, you know, about two years later. tot's when i came down here fight again for them not to repeal it. it was then that my congressman voted to repeal it. i came down those capital steps. i don't remember who the reporter was because i wasn't familiar with the roars then. the reporter asked me, mrs. mccarthy, how mad are you? my irish temper -- believe me, i won't repeat what i said.

>> repeat it. \[laughter] >> but he said well, are you mad enough to run for congress? and you know, i just said i'm going to run for congress. now i never believed that. i never gave it another thought. i took the train home and all of a sudden, i got home and these people were knocking at my door. by the way, an awful lot of women were elected in the year 1996, and every one of us that ran was running to reduce gun violence. so it was part of our campaigns. now washington wanted me to talk about medicare and everything else and i said no. i'm running on this one issue

and i won overwhelmingly. hereertainly now that i'm in congress, i have to know a lot of other issues and i fight for those issues and i got i don't know how many bills i have gotten passed and signed by the president, but it goes to show -- i could tell you other stories, by the way, of members here now that have voted with me on a lot of my issues and they were n.r.a. members and they would go back to their districts saying wow, they are going to come after me. you know what? they won. so our american people are actually smarter today, in my opinion, and we take votes and by the way, that's our job. tough votes. you don't think that when we did the health care bill that many of us that voted for it said this is a possibility that we could all lose? i said very early in my opening statement, members of congress need to have a stiffer spine. we all do. we got the fiscal cliff coming up. there are going to be things in that bill that i'm not going to like. there are going to be a lot of things that the republicans

don't like. but if we're supposed to do our job for the country, that means we have to take that vote, and i will take that vote because i do not want to see our country go down. i want to see us go forward and get jobs. >> we have time for one more. "so was there not a piece of legislation and brought to the floor for a vote between 2009? and >> are members are very courageous and they will walk the plank on and a tough vote, but i want them to do that on something that will become law. yes, it is a tough vote, a very complicated, complex issue. it is something that many of us had been fighting for in the particulars of this and in personal lives as well. it was a very high priority for

us. let's just say money. big money out there on the sides of those who would not be opposed. by the way, i do not paint all hunters with the same brush. i think this gives hunters a bad name. it is undeserved. many of them think it should be banned and that is what i am so proud that we are taking that view to make that distinction. there were no prospects of success and we one of the members to be here to continue to make about fight so that when there was a prospect of success they would be here rather than being cleared out by the nra. we saw that in 1994 when we were cleared out.

>> let me add to that. one of my jobs is the job of chief deputy whip. back in that time, we had to vote to pass sensible gun legislation through the house, but when the senate said they could not do 60 votes, the leader made the decision that it really was not the thing to do at that time when we were trying to pass health care reform and other issues. as we all believe, this has changed now. it changes when your realize one of these guys with one of these high-capacity assault magazines can go in and kill little children and their teachers, the majority of americans agree with us on this and that is why we're going out to pass this legislation. i want to thank everyone for coming in.

>> questions harkens back to the past. >> i think the leader and diana's said the reality of the congress in 2009-2011, the house took a lot of votes but it never went anywhere in the senate and concentrate on what could get done. we save the economy, we pass universal health care, but this has now changed. the reason we are all here today is not just because we've had another terrific example of the carnage that results when we give in to the enablers and the next murder, but we think, hope, believe, and we're working to make sure that this carnage has changed the equation so we can change it. we think it is possible now. we think it is possible to stop

this carnage and we're going to do it. >> thank you very much. we are on another subject here. c-sp [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> nra president wayne lapierre called for armed guards in schools. this is just over 30 minutes. >> i am dave keane, president of the national rifle association and i would like to welcome you to begin our discussion of the topic that has been on the minds of american parents across this country.

that is -- what do we do about the tragedy of the sort that struck in newtown, conn. to avoid such events in the future? like most americans, we were shocked by what happened. like all americans, we have been discussing all of the various options that are available to protect our children and, at this point, we would like to share our thinking with you. to that purpose, i would like to introduce wayne lapierre, our executive vice president. at the end of this conference, we will not be taking questions but next week, we will be available to any of you who are interested in talking about these or other issues of interest. contact us, please, at that point, thank you very much. wayne?

>> good morning. the national rifle association, 4 million mothers, fathers, sons and daughters joined the nation in outrage, grief, and earnest prayer for the families of newtown, conn. who have suffered such an incomprehensible loss as a result of this unspeakable crime. out of respect for the families and until the facts were known, the nra has refrained from comment. while some have tried to exploit tragedy for political gain, we have remained

respectably silent. now, we must speak for the safety of our nation's children. for all the noise and anger directed at us over the past week, no one, nobody, has addressed the most important precedent and the immediate question we face -- how do we protect our children right now, starting today, in a way that we know works? the only way to answer that question is to face the truth. politicians have laws for gun- free school zones.

they issue press releases bragging about them. they post signs advertising them. in doing so, they tell every insane killer in america that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. how have our nation's morals gotten so far out of order? think about it -- we care about our money so we protect our banks with armed guards. american airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses, even sports stadiums are all protected by armed security.

we care about our president so we protect him with armed secret service agents. members of congress work in offices surrounded by capitol police officers. yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the american family, our children, we, as a society, leave them every day utterly defenseless. and the monsters of the world know it and exploit it. that must change now. the truth is --

ur nra, stop killing our children. stop arming them. we have to end the violence. we have to stop the violence. stop killing them. the nra is killing our children. violence begins with the nra. they are the traders of the violence in our schools. -- they are the perpetrators. >> the truth is, that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters, people that are so

deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can ever possibly comprehend them. they walk among us every single day. does anybody really believe that the next adam lanza not planning an attack on a school that he has already identified at this very moment? how many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame? from a national media machine that rewards them with wall-to- wall attention and a sense of identity that they crave while provoking others to try to make their mark. a dozen more killers, 100? more? how can we possibly even guess how many? toen our nation's refusal

create an active national database of the mentally ill. the fact is this -- that would not begin to address the much larger more lethal criminal class, killers, robbers, rapists, gang members who have spread like cancer in every community across our nation. meanwhile, while that happens, federal gun prosecutions have decreased by 40% to the lowest levels in a decade. so now, do to a decline and willingness to prosecute dangerous criminals, violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years. ed another hurricane, attack or

some other natural or man-made disaster, and you've got a recipe for a national nightmare of violence and victimization. here is another dirty little truth that t media, try their best to conceal. there exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt, and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stokes violence against its own people. through vicious violent video games with names like bullet "storm," "and it theft auto,""mortal kombat," and "splatter house." here is one -- that is called kindergarten killers.

it has been online for 10 years. how come my research staff can't find it and all of yours could not or didn't want anyone to know you had found it? add another hurricane, add another natural disaster -- we have flood -soaked sites out there. -- films like "american psycho" and "natural born killers." these are aired like propaganda loops every single day. 1000 music videos, and you all know this, portray life as a joke and they play murder -- portray murder as a way of life. then they all have the mayor of to call it entertainment. is that what it really is? isn't fantasizing about killing

people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography? in a race to the bottom, media conglomerate compete with one another to shock, violate, and offend every standard of civilized society by bringing an even more toxic max of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty right into our homes every minute, every day, every hour, of every single year. a child growing up in america today witnesses 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ribald age of 18. -- ripe old age of 18. throughout it all, to many in

the national media, their corporate owners, and their stockholders, act as silent enablers if not complice it co- conspirators. rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize to gun owners. >> reckless behavior becoming from the nra. the nra has blood on its ads. the nra has blood on its hands. shame on the nra ban assault weapons now. ban on assault weapons now. nra, end assault weapons now. stop killing our children. stop the reckless behavior of the nra. we need gun control now. >> rather than face their own moral failings, the media

demonizes the gun owners, amplifies their cries for more laws, and fills the national media with misinformation and dishonest thinking that only delay meaningful action in all that guarantees the next atrocity is only a news cycle away. the media calls semi automatic firearms machine guns. they claims the civilian automatic firearms are used by the military. they tell us that the 223 round is one of the most popular calibers when all of these claims are factually untrue. they don't know what they are talking about. worse, they perpetuate the dangerous notion that one more gun ban or one more law imposed

on peaceful lawful people will protect us where 20,000 other laws have failed. as brave and heroic and as self-sacrificing as those teachers were in those classrooms and as prompt and professional and well trained as those police were when they responded, they were unable, through no fault of their own, and able to stop it. as parents, we do everything we can to keep their children safe. is now time for us to assume responsibility for our schools. the only way, the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

would you rather have your 911 call briong good guy with a gun from a mile away or from one minute away? i can imagine the headlines, the shocking headline, they will print tomorrow. more guns, you will climb, is the nra answer to everything. your implication will be that guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. since when did the gun automatically become a bad word? a gun in the hands of the sixth service agent protecting our president is not a bad word. a gun in the hands of the

soldier protecting the united states of america is not a bad word. when you hear your glass breaking at 3:00 a.m. and you call 911, he will not be able to pray hard enough for a gun in that hands of a good guy to get there fast enough to protect you. so, why is the idea of a gun could win it is used to protect the president of our country or our police, but bad when it is used to protect our children in our schools? there are kids, they are our responsibility, and it is not just our duty to protect them, it is our right to protect them. you know, five years ago, after

the virginia tech tragedy, when i said we should put armed security in every school, the media call me crazy. but what if, what if, when adam lanza star shooting his way into sandy hook elementary school last friday he had been confronted by qualified armed security? will you at least admit it is possible that 26 of little kids -- 26 innocent lives might have been scared that day? is it so abhorrent that you would rather continue to rest the alternative? is the press and the political

talk in washington, d.c. so consumed by fear and hatred of the nra and american gun owners that you are willing to accept a world where real resistance to evil monsters is alone, unarmed, school principal left to surrender her life, her life to shield those children in her care? no one, no one, regardless of personal political prejudice has the right to impose that sacrifice. ladies and gentlemen, there is no national one-size-fits-all solution to protect our children. do know that this president

zeroed out school planning grants in the last budget and scrapped secure our schools policing and grant in next year's budget. with all the foreign aid the united states does, with all the money in the federal budget, can't we afford to put a police officer in every single school? even if they did that, politicians have no business and no authority denying us the right, the ability, and the moral imperative to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm. the national rifle association knows there are millions of qualified, active and retired police, active reserves, retired military, security professionals, certified firefighters, security

professionals, rescue personnel, and -- an extraordinary core of patriotic, trained and qualified citizens to join with local school officials and police in devising a protection plan for every single school. we could deploy them to protect our kids now. we can immediately make america's schools safer, relying on the brave men and women in america's police forces. you all know this, everyone the country knows this -- the budgets of our local police departments are strained and the resources are severely limited. their dedication and courage is second to none and they can be deployed right now. i call on congress today to act immediately to appropriate what ever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single

school in this nation and to do it now. to make sure that blanket safety is in place when our kids return to school in january. before congress reconvenes, before we engage in any lengthy debate over legislation, regulation, or anything else, as soon as our kids return to school after the holiday break, we need to have every single school in america immediately deployed a production program proven to work and by that i mean armed security. right now today, every school in the united states should planned meetings with parents, school administrators, teachers, local authorities and draw upon every resource out there that is available, to erect a cordon of protection around our kids

right now. every school will have a different solution based on its own unique situation. every school in america needs to immediately identified, dedicate, and deploy the resources necessary to put these security forces in place right now. at the national rifle association, as america's preeminent trainer of law enforcement and security personnel for the past 50 years, we have 11,000 police training instructors in the nra ready, willing, and uniquely qualified to help. our training programs are the most advanced in the world. that expertise must be brought to bear to protect our schools and their children now. we did it for our nation's defense industry at military installations during world war two. we did it for very young kids

with air safety program that is throughout the country in schools right now. we will do it again today. the nra will bring all its knowledge, all its dedication, and all its resources to develop a model national school shield emergency response program for every single school in america that wants it. from armed security to building design and access control, the information technology, student and teacher training, this multifaceted program will be developed by the very best experts in the field. former congressman asa hutchinson will lead the effort as national director of the national model school shield program with a budget provided by the nra of what ever scope the task requires.

his experience as a united states attorney, director of the drug enforcement agency, and undersecretary of the department of homeland security will given the knowledge and expertise to hire the most knowledgeable and credentialed experts available in the united states of america to get this program up and running from the first day forward. if we truly cherish our kids more than our money, more than our celebrities, more than our sports stadiums, we must give them the greatest level of protection possible and that security is only available with properly trained armed good guys. under asa's leadership our experts were make this program available to the world to protect their children at school and will make that program available to every single school in america free of charge.

that is a plan of action that can and will make a real positive indisputable difference in the safety of our children and it will start right now. there will be a lot of time to talk and debate later. this is a time, this is a day for decisive action. we cannot wait for the next unspeakable crime to happen before we act. we cannot lose precious time debating legislation that will not work. we must not allow politics or personal prejudice to divide us. we must act now for the sake of every child in america. i call on every parent, i call on every teacher, i call on

every school administrator, every law enforcement officer in this country to join with us and help create a national school shield safety program to protect our children with the only positive line of defense that is tested and proven to work. now, tell you more about the program, i would like to introduce the head of the effort, former u.s. congressman, former u.s. attorney before the western district of arkansas and former ad minister of the u.s. drug enforcement agency, the honorable congressman, asa hutchinson. >> are you going to take questions?

>> one of the first responsibility is a learned of homeland security was the importance of protecting our nation's critical infrastructure. there is nothing more critical to our nation's well-being that our children safety. futuree this country's and our most precious resource. all understand that our children should be safe at school but it is also essential that the parents understand and have confidence in that safety. as a result of the tragedy in newtown, conn., this -- that conflicts across this nation has been shattered. assurance of school safety must be restored with a sense of urgency. that is why i am grateful that the national rifle association

has asked me to lead a team of security experts to assist our schools, parents, and their communities. i took this assignment on one condition -- that my team of experts will be independent, and will be guided solely by what are the best security solutions for the safety of our children while at school. even though we are just starting this process, i envision this initiative will have two key elements -- first of all, it would be based on a model security plan, a comprehensive strategy for school security based upon the latest, most up-to-date, technical information from the foremost experts in their fields. this model security plan will serve as a template, a set of best practices, principals, and guidelines that every school in america can tweak as needed and tailor it to their own set of circumstances. every school and community is different.

this model plan will allow every school to choose among its various components to develop a school safety strategy that fits their own unique circumstance whether it is a large urban school or a small rural schools such as we have an arkansas or anything we have in between. armed and qualified school security personnel will be one element of that plan but by no means the only element. if a school decides, for whatever reason, that it does not want or need armed security personnel, that is the decision to be made by the parents or the local school board at the local level. the second point i want to make is this will be a program that does not depend on massive funding from local authorities or the federal government. instead, it will make use of local volunteers serving in their own communities. my son was a volunteer with a local group called "watchdog dads" patrolled playgrounds and

provided a measure of added security. president clinton initiated a program called "cops in school" but the federal response is not sufficient for today's path. whether they're retired police, retired military or rescue personnel, i think there are people in every community in this country it would be happy to serve if only someone ask them and gave them the training and certification is to do so. the national rifle association is a natural choice to sponsor the program. there are programs that set the standards for well over a century. over the past 25 years, there comes a program has caught 26 million kids that real guns are not toys and today, the child

gun accidents are at the lowest levels ever recorded. school safety is a complex issue, with a simple single solution. i believe trained, qualified, armed security is a key component among many that can provide the first line of defense and the last line of defense. i welcome the opportunity to participate in this potentially lifesaving effort. thank you very much. >> as i indicated at the outset, this is the beginning of a serious conversation. we will not be taking questions today. our public affairs officer is here. a text of the speech is

available on our website. want to think all of you for being with us and i look forward to answering your questions next week. >> after the nra briefing, senators dianne feinstein and richard blumenthal spoke to reporters. >> there have been a lot of lawmakers like yourself -- is that disappointing the have not come forward? >> let me go back to 94. it was hard. the chairman of the judiciary and the house was defeated and the speaker was defeated. the nra went out to target people who voted for the assault weapons legislation. they were critical of it, but

they were targeting and threatening and carried these winds -- carried these threats out. that fear of intimidation has carried on to today. i come from the biggest state in the union, a state where rim in sync. it takes a lot of courage for a senator from about the state at a small state -- california is bigger than the 21 states and the district of columbia combined. it takes a tremendous courage and backbone for people to stand up. leaders lead. we don't follow. we have had so much since the massive shooting at the texas bell power -- bell tower, along

with the increased technological killing power of weapons in the united states. it's a big problem. >> this debate is only beginning. it has only been a week since this massacre. the nra will be irrelevant because it cannot be a credible and constructive participant and the debate. the -- better school security may be part of a solution, but it has to include a ban on assault weapons which have that kind of pop -- that kind of firepower that endangers everyone and i think republican

or democrat, the key question is going to be making america a safer. the park of this debate will swing toward strong, serious proposals because the american people will not stand by idly for another neqtown. >> thank you, everybody. >> the nra's wayne lapierre was on "meet the press" this morning he proposed action by congress. >> if it is crazy to call for putting police and armed security and our school to protect our children, and call me crazy. i will tell you that the

american people think it's crazy not to do it. it is the one thing that would keep people safe and mri -- the nra will do that. we will support a media appropriations by congress to put police in every school and we will work with a said hutchinson to put together a voluntary program, drawing on retired military, retired police, former secret service and that is the one thing we can do. >> net is the one thing we can do that will immediately make our children safe. you could then dianne feinstein and do whatever she wants to do. it's not going to make any kids safer. >> if you worked for them, you'd get the material, sometimes

generous, overbearing, sometimes almost cool boss. he did not know how to apologize. they're not going to apologize to a young secretary or typist and he had a way of turning the tables and his version of an apology would be to say you are a kind man and doing a good job today but the issue is never settled. one night, going through a german bomb fell nearby. his body guard pushed him into a doorway and a couple of his men were slightly wounded. churchill did not like to be touched and said don't do that.

thompson said you should not be at year. churchill's of them only doing this because i know you love to. >> u.s. selected to write -- complete the biography of winston churchill. >> next, we will look at debate and negotiations surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff. first, the date from the house floor on the proposed plan be followed by a press release after his -- after his plan was pulled from the floor and then president obama's remarks on the ongoing negotiations. now, some house debate concerning the fiscal cliff and john boehner's alternative that would have raised taxes on annual incomes of more than $1 million. this is about one hour.

>> i'm not doing a sesame street skit here. this is what we're talking about. i think about planning a which is what the majority in the house of representatives has been trying to implement. it is very simply a plan designed to put into place that democrats and republicans say they support. that is meaningful, strong, bold plans for a simple, fair

tax code. the president supports tax reform and taking the top from 25% to 30%. majoritysay we in the have been trying to put into place a real, meaningful tax reform that can ensure people can reduce rates and generate domestic growth. the trouble with that is our plan a has been designed to bring about a reduction of size and scope and the reach of the federal government. everyone knows what that means. real entitlement reform. plan a consists of two simple

things. pro-growth tax reform that will keep taxes low for individuals and job creators, and small businesses in this country, so we can encourage that kind of job creation which we all aspire, and a reduction of the mammoth size of this behemoths. we all know it encourages a cycle of dependence which has been generational and it is essential we turn from it. just getting our fiscal house in order dealing with the $16 trillion national debt and is only part of that. encouraging individual initiative and responsibility, creating pride in individuals

by pulling back entitlements spending, is the right thing for us to do as a nation. that is what the plan consists of. if you look at where we are today, we know 11 days from now, we are going over the fiscal cliff. what does that mean? every single american who pays income taxes will see a tax increase go into effect. we also know there will be a massive sequester. we just evaded the rule on the national defense authorization act, it will have a devastating impact on our national security. increasing taxes on working americans will create a scenario which will hinge on our ability to encourage the kind

of domestic product growth that is important for us and for our economic security and overall national security. i think about my former california colleague, please, do what you can to ensure we do not have the sequester take effect. do what you can, and try to make sure hamas you address it and have what is necessary for our national security. as the look at these issues, we are going through a troubling time. we have a divided government.

we have a democratic president and a republican house of representatives. i happen to believe that creates an opportunity. i did not vote for barack obama, but i do believe that having a president in one party and a house in another party does create an opportunity for us to work together in a bipartisan way. we know if my party won everything, it would have been tough for us. it is a political attack that would be taking place from the other side of the aisle. working together, i believe we can tackle this issue. that is really what we desire. that is the right thing to do. we are in the midst of a very tough negotiations taking place between two people. the president, and the speaker

of the house of representatives, john boehner. i want to express my appreciation of my colleagues. i have been a minority. i have served in the minority from 1980 to 1994. it is challenging. it is not easy. we are a 11 days away from going over the fiscal cliff and we feel strongly about the need for this institution to state its position on this. i know we have heard mr. reed indicate he does not want to bring up, if this bill passes, this measure. and the president has put out a policy that this bill would not gain his signature. i do not think anyone is

convinced that the bill passing here will be one that will end in agreement. the goal is for work to proceed. and for institutions to stake their position. we happen to believe mr. boehner has made some bold steps. in working to ensure we do not go over that fiscal cliff. we are in a position today where the action and we will take will be a positive step to enhance the chance for a resolution to this. the process is not perfect. i will say this. if you look at what it is that is included, $238 billion over a 10-year reduction, a

reconciliation package that passed this house of representatives earlier this year, a measure before us that will be debated as one that has pared back from the measure to pass the house of representatives, and the only changes that have been made our to accommodate the date change. we know what this is. for those who might claim the reconciliation package we have is imposing cuts, which will be devastating for those struggling in this country, i remind them of the alternative, which happens to be sequestered. it is our hope this reconciliation package will play a role in insuring the sequester that would be devastating.

it would be devastating for it not to take place. this is the alternative. the package we have will see rate increases for those earning $1 million, 0.19% of the american federal taxpayer. all the rest of the americans, the overwhelming majority will avoid seeing the tax increase go into affect. i would also like to say we have to remember if you look at the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that became public law, part of that law, current law, makes it clear we actually would see the rates, the top-rated 39.6%. that is part of the 2003

agreement. any action less than that is actually a tax cut. we need to recognize that. mr. speaker, what we are doing, and i appreciate again the understanding of the minority, is simply trying to move ahead with this good faith negotiating process that speaker boehner and the president spoke of. in light of the balanced approach to the package, i hope -- this package has enjoyed statements of support from democrats in the past. from both the house and the senate. i hope this can be a positive step as we seek to resolve just as quickly as we can. our goal is to put in place the kind of certainty to encourage job creators to have the kind of opportunity that is necessary.

>> good afternoon. no need to call the family to see any history being made. just move along. nothing happening. this plan does not come anywhere close to being a solution to the fiscal cliff. it is a political gimmick. all of us recognize it has no chance of becoming law. the process that brought us here has been equally shameful.

developing countries in the greatest democracy on earth. it has been absolutely painful to watch the otherwise responsible members of the majority play their assigned roles pretending what we did last night is normal. facing the impending fiscal cliff that could devastate our economy and harm millions of americans, the majority decided to put together a last-minute legislation on a prayer. last night, the rules committee spent most of the evening debating legislation. even if the debate is taking place, it was dropped into our lap. it turned out to be a bill that went through the house of representatives.

that is how the majority wants to solve the greatest economic threat facing our nation. with nothing less than millions of dollars on the line, does the majority really believe this will do nothing? we prepare a vote on this legislation and i think adjourned for the final time this year. if this is a final attempt to reach the compromise, our nation faces finding times. we may face the greatest displacement of workers since 1929 as sequestration takes effect and forces countless layoffs. how devastating is that to a

recovering economy. every american knows we cannot let this happen. i believe everyone knows we never would. after last night, i am not so sure. this is not a serious solution to avoid economic catastrophe. is one last tax on the poor and middle-class right before we go off together over the fiscal cliff. many's bill contains dangerous provisions. part c we got last night in which the 25 million working americans would pay more on taxes. the drastic cuts, they could not adjourn this year without one more last attempt to destroy the health care bill that will provide health care for millions more americans, covered by insurance is they have never

been able to have before. during my last election last month, i met more than one person. she was born with cerebral palsy. she had to do without any health insurance. she was born with cerebral palsy and had a pre-existing condition. 2 million americans would lose their unemployment assistance

right here at the holiday time. as i said before, the program would be gutted. those on just cuts would leave millions struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. americans we are talking about are not the ones that cause the problem in this country. they have nothing to do with financial services. continually, this house asks them to pay the price. enough already. they are not to blame and they should not be put on the block. sadly, just days ago, it appeared president obama and speaker boehner were close to a fiscal cliff compromise.

president obama made concessions. some that our side is not crazy about. the house of the majority started walking away announcing what they will do in a take-it- or-leave-it manner and introduced a political hopes for us today. do not anybody be fooled. the american people know better and see through this. they know a compromise means that we must meet in the middle. the majority continues to think if they pass extreme legislation and then run for the hills, the rest of us will be forced to give in. we have seen similar antics for the majority. holding the credit of this nation for the first time in history hostage and losing our

credit rating, to voting 33 times to repeal health care reforms. the majority has continually advanced cynical and partisan agenda at the expense of our nation's welfare. given this, it is no surprise the approval rating for congress is at an all-time low. historians have said it is the least productive congress in our history. in the election just last month, the american people made their voices heard. when asked to choose between the extreme agenda, they said no. they wanted not to be going over a fiscal cliff and they have made it very clear. what we have done is risk of the economic future of this country debating this fiscal cliff as long as we have. i am not clear on what we are doing today unless it is to cut and run. in the process, the majority

has presided over shameful legislation not worthy of this institution. when our nation is in desperate need of serious solutions, the majority is doing everything in its power to avoid finding the answers. i strongly oppose this before us and i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reverse this rule and i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentle lady reserves. >> i yield to associate myself with remarks my good friend has made as it relates to the sequestered. i agree with her completely. it is very important we not let the sequestered take place. i hope and believe she is right we will not see that happen. i would like to associate myself with her remarks as it relates to ensuring we do not go

over the fiscal cliff. that is something that is very desire on our part. i would also like to respond to one point very quickly. i can provide my friend the assurance we will not be adjourning the conference today and ending our work. i have said that we are going to continue with our work. the action we will take as it relates to the two measures, the reconciliation package, which is designed to ensure we do not see sequestration, which we all know would be devastating. it is a package of $238 billion. it is a very responsible measure that is not going to be gutting programs. >> may you yield?

i recall we asked last night for assurance the bill we are looking at is the bill we would vote on parrot all we got was doublespeak. >> if i could reclaim my time. >> i will give it back to you. >> i will say again, i have served as long in the minority as john. i have served longer in the minority than the dean of the house has served. i understand. i served 18 years in the minority. i understand it is challenging. i respect that fact. to say we are dealing with the very end of the session, that we are not trying to get to an agreement, is a mischaracterization of where we are. i have associated myself with

remarks from my friend as it relates, and to say the package we have and the deals of the reduction of $238 billion is again one that can responsibly address and be a first step toward something we all know needs to be done. as i talked to democrats, there is recognition that entitlement reform has to take place. my fellow californian.

>> 2.5 minutes. >> i think my friend for yielding. the debate, i am afraid we are losing touch with common sense. there is no bill before the congress that proposes raising taxes on millionaires or anybody else. there is a law that takes affect on january 1 that will raise taxes on millionaires and small businesses filing as millionaires, and everybody else. there is a bill to protect everybody else from that law. that is the issue before us today. the president says he wants to protect everybody except those greedy millionaires and billionaires. that is precisely what this bill does. he has vowed to veto it. the truth is, he wants everybody who is making over $200,000, that includes 1.3

million small businesses. that is 84% of net small business income. precisely the income they used to produce two-thirds of the jobs in our economy. the congressional budget office